Abilene first responders pay tribute to a Weatherford firefighter who died while fighting a wildfire in West Texas.
Nathaniel Ellsworth, Abilene

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Abilene Fire Department and MetroCare ambulance personnel line the Hayter Road bridge over Interstate 20 on Monday afternoon to pay their respects to fallen Weatherford firefighter Richard Loller, who died while deployed to a wildland fire in the Davis Mountains last weekend.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)Buy Photo

Richard "Andy" Loller Jr. was deployed to what was called the Scenic Loop Complex wildfire near the Davis Mountains in far West Texas when he died Sunday after a "medical emergency," according to the city of Weatherford. The emergency has not been further specified.

Loller died while being transported by helicopter to a hospital in Odessa.

AFD engines and staff vehicles, along with MetroCare ambulances, parked on overpasses and personnel stood together just after 3 p.m. when a procession, with lights on and led by a Department of Public Safety vehicle, passed through Abilene.

Loller, 42, was a 13-year veteran of the fire department.

The fire began June 3 and had burned almost 25,000 acres when Loller, who had been on the scene since June 6, died Sunday.

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A DPS vehicle leads a procession, including a vehicle carrying the body of fallen firefighter Richard Loller Jr., that passes through Abilene on Monday afternoon. Local firefighters and other first responders lined overpasses to honor Loller, a 13-year veteran.(Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News)